If approved, you will receive email confirmation and further instructions. You should then contact the publisher confirming you wish to make your article open access, requesting the correct licence (CC BY) and providing the purchase order (PO) number, VAT number and correct billing address for the invoice. Processing time for APC applications is normally 2-5 days.

A member of the OA team will contact you if further information is required. If we are unable to resolve the issue your application will be rejected. However, by depositing your manuscript in Spiral via Symplectic it will become open access, in Imperial’s repository, after any embargo periods have expired.

A common reason for rejecting an application is that a publisher's open access options are not compliant with a UK research funder's policy. Learned and professional society publishers frequently fall into this category and we strongly recommend that you check the compliance of these journals with your funder's open access policy before submitting a paper. If your work is funded by RCUK or COAF, you can consult SHERPA FACT to find out if your preferred journal is compliant, or contact the open access team for help.